Extended Family Reunion Story of Man Adopted from Foster Care in Texas

“Herbert Caj Keen met his biological family in Troy for the first time since he was adopted at age of 3 in 1971.

Herbert, his wife, Charity, and son, Mitchell, 8, arrived in Michigan from their West Virginia home recently to live for a week with a group of strangers — who just happened to be his aunt, cousins and second cousins.

Herbert met his aunt Carole Chapman, cousins Stacey Pilut, Lisa Carey and Tina Burns and their children.

“We sat down like we’ve always known each other. It’s like we’ve known each other since we were growing up,” Keen said. “I’ve never been to Michigan before — well, that I can remember.”

Keen said his son Mitchell’s cousins are around the same age as Mitchell. They all became friends instantaneously as well. One of the main reasons Keen decided to visit Troy was because he wanted his son to know his family.

Pilut said, “They shook hands, introduced themselves and ran off to play.”

Keen said he always knew he had family in Michigan, but he never knew their names or who they were.

After his biological parents moved from Michigan to Texas, Keen, his younger brother Larry and his older half-sisters Missy and Sandra were taken away from their mother by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services based on reports of neglect.

For the next several months, Herbert and Larry lived at a Methodist children’s home until they were adopted by Donald and Clara Keen, who, ironically, lived in Troy, Texas. They were separated from their half-sisters.

“I remember the day I was adopted like it was yesterday. We were told, ‘You’re going to go home with those people. They’re your new parents,’” said Herbert. “Then I got into a yellow-green 1971 Plymouth Fury. We leaned over the seat, looking at these two new people taking us somewhere we didn’t know.”

Herbert and Larry’s biological father, who died in 1997, was serving in the U.S. Army in Vietnam at the time his sons were taken away. Little did he know, but Herbert, who served as an infantry officer in the army from 1988 to 2001, had followed in his biological father’s military footsteps.

At 15, Keen found his older sisters through the children’s home. When he was 23, he also met his younger sister Nicole Georgeson, who was born after he was adopted. Before Keen knew she existed, Nicole slept with a picture of him and his brother Larry every night, dreaming of the siblings she didn’t know how to find. He said it was neat seeing all these people who resembled him.

“I never wanted to find my parents. I wanted to find siblings and cousins because I didn’t want to date my sister,” Keen laughed. “Nicole was friends with (my cousin) Stacey on Facebook, which is how we met.”

Keen cousin Pilut of Troy said when her mother, Carole Chapman, learned her nephews had been taken away, it was very hard on her. Since they didn’t live in the same state, Chapman didn’t find out from her brother that his children were taken away until several months later. She wanted the children to move in with her. By the time she found out, and their uncle John went to search for the boys in Texas, it was too late. They had already been adopted.

After 42 years of worrying what happened to her nephews, Chapman was finally able to meet Keen. As soon as she saw him, Chapman embraced Keen in a hug and commented about how tall he was.

Pilut said, “That’s one thing my mom said — that she no longer has to worry that they’re OK and worrying about who they’re with.”

“She was excited and nervous. I think it stirred up a lot of raw emotions. I mean, it’s been 42 years, and she made peace that they had a new family and were better off.”

Pilut said that before meeting Keen, she only had four cousins. Now, with Herbert and Larry, she has six cousins.
“We’re a close-knit and small family,” she said.

Keen said he would encourage adoptive parents to tell their children and not hide that they’re adopted. Otherwise, he said a child could feel deceived.

“I think parents should tell the kids as soon as they can understand it. … Biological family is important,” Keen said. “Also, I think kids should know they’re adopted because of medical history. And so you won’t date your sister.”

Keen and his wife, Charity, who met while both serving in the army and stationed in Korea, have filed the paperwork to adopt or foster a child in West Virginia.

“(Our son) Mitchell said, ‘I want a brother, but he has to be 6 (years old),” Keen said.

Keen said he wanted to help get a child out of a bad situation — just like his adoptive parents did for him.

“I want to show a kid who is in a bad spot that he can have a good life, too,” he said.”

Adopted man meets his family for first time

[The Daily Tribune 8/13/12 by Monica Drake]

REFORM Puzzle Piece